22:11 - Hex_Omegaflight, change your title from 'Stamp Tramp' to 'Master Of The Lists'. 15 lists in 4 months, lol

22:02 - mzyeah Neachy. I've been so out of the metal globe for 2.5 months and have checked only 4 albums: Eerie( 2014), that black metal album with red cover form Iceland, desolate shrine and Abyssal Gods. All of them are very good :D

Really great album. Has a kind of movie soundtrack feel to it with the orchestrated parts. Much better than ADTOE. The strong thing of this album in my opinion is the difference in songs and the shorter playtimes of some songs. And "Enigma Machine" is a briljant instrumental piece. And as I had with ADTOE, I here don't have any song that feels out of place/boring. Can't wait to see them play 'Illumination Theory' live

Eh, it's ok but simply another Dt album for me. 'The enigma machine' and naturally closer 'Illumination theory' are absolutely brilliant, but the other songs don't offer anywhere near as much creativity for me.

Amazing! What they could pull off without Portnoy NOR Moore (no I'm not that outdated but you get me; 2 and 3 were the best) is actually surprising, considering A Dramatic Turn Of Events had the most boring drums, the most yawny moments in a DT album, and the most crappy production of a DT album behind the first one. At first listen, I was like.. "impressive chocolate cake but meh", at second I liked more songs, and at seventh currently, I admit this is... hugely awesome. I gave it a 10 simply because.. it's perfect to my tastes; perfect! Shorter songs then an epic, everything just.. mhmhmhmhmrurughghghg... I'm gonna have to review this a few months later to actually point out what I liked and didn't and sound more objective. But woah, guys. They've outdone themselves.

(P.S. Certainly not as mindblowing as Scenes, Awake, IAW or 6DOIT Disc 2, but as high quality as TOT with a slight bit more).

Finally we could see a glimpse of what Dream Theater used to be... globally it's a good album with very good performance by John Petrucci, Mike Mangini and Jordan Rudess. I'm not to keen on two tracks but the rest of the album seems consistent enough to have a 8/10.

Checked out the stream 2 times last week and I have now listened to the CD a couple of times over the weekend. It doesn't grab me. Some of the songs are ok and the album will probably grow on me - Dream Theater's stuff usually takes a while to sink in - but so far it's pretty underwhelming. It's too early to give a rating, but I suspect it will end up around a 6 or 7. Right now it's in the bottom four of DT albums.

For me, it's a completely uninspired album. Way too pop. Bigger Picture is probably their worst song ever.
Bad transitions throughout the album (Behing the Veil starts so well, but the rest of the song doesn't connect with the intro). Illumination Theory has its moments, but I feel it's just a sequence of riffs that dont' really make a whole. And let's face it, the song is 19minutes long, not 22. What comes a minute after it's finished is completely irrelevant.

For me, it's a completely uninspired album. Way too pop. Bigger Picture is probably their worst song ever.
Bad transitions throughout the album (Behing the Veil starts so well, but the rest of the song doesn't connect with the intro). Illumination Theory has its moments, but I feel it's just a sequence of riffs that dont' really make a whole. And let's face it, the song is 19minutes long, not 22. What comes a minute after it's finished is completely irrelevant.

I feel it's an album made by amateurs. Truly.

Hi Hollberr,

What you consider a professionally made album? If you recon that DT is amateurs. I'd like to know your opinion.

And let's face it, the song is 19minutes long, not 22. What comes a minute after it's finished is completely irrelevant.

What comes a minute after it is still music, and possibly one of the greatest ways they could have finished off the album. That one section alone was what showed me that DT actually can make simple, decent, emotion-tugging music. One of my favourite parts of any of their songs, period. Possibly some of the best music for reminiscence or reflection that I've heard.

I don't know how you could consider that part to be irrelevant when it was like the band was personally gift wrapping the album for you.

What you consider a professionally made album? If you recon that DT is amateurs. I'd like to know your opinion.

This album seems amateurish to me because it has no internal structure. Songs like Behind the Veil, Surrender to Reason, and Illumination Theory are poorly structured, and each have very questionnable transitions (for example the acoustic part in Surrender to Reason. I still don't get that).
The album is full of generic, tasteless choruses. It seems they tried to keep the heavy, popish sound of ADTOE (like Outcry of Bridges in the Sky), but failed in making their melodies as catchy.
Also the album seems too much compressed. Drums sounds almost fake, especially the snare. Labrie sings too high at the end of Illumination Theory and screws the possibly beautiful solo of Petrucci (we only hear half, first half being hidden by Labrie's now disgusting high voice.

I can recognize the goods also. Petrucci's sound is fantastic, Myung is back in the mix, Enemy Inside is great, and Mangini rocks the drums. Individually they are phenomenal, but to my taste and to what level I'm used to with these guys, they made a poor album.

And let's face it, the song is 19minutes long, not 22. What comes a minute after it's finished is completely irrelevant.

What comes a minute after it is still music, and possibly one of the greatest ways they could have finished off the album. That one section alone was what showed me that DT actually can make simple, decent, emotion-tugging music. One of my favourite parts of any of their songs, period. Possibly some of the best music for reminiscence or reflection that I've heard.

I don't know how you could consider that part to be irrelevant when it was like the band was personally gift wrapping the album for you.

I have nothing against gift wrapping an album. Beneath the Surface was a nice way to gift wrap ADTOE. But Illumination Theory still ends at 19min07. What comes after is still irrelevant, gift wrapping or not, beautiful or not. But then, the song has a poor structure so why not?

And let's face it, the song is 19minutes long, not 22. What comes a minute after it's finished is completely irrelevant.

What comes a minute after it is still music, and possibly one of the greatest ways they could have finished off the album. That one section alone was what showed me that DT actually can make simple, decent, emotion-tugging music. One of my favourite parts of any of their songs, period. Possibly some of the best music for reminiscence or reflection that I've heard.

I don't know how you could consider that part to be irrelevant when it was like the band was personally gift wrapping the album for you.

I have nothing against gift wrapping an album. Beneath the Surface was a nice way to gift wrap ADTOE. But Illumination Theory still ends at 19min07. What comes after is still irrelevant, gift wrapping or not, beautiful or not. But then, the song has a poor structure so why not?

Ah, I see what you mean now. Still don't exactly agree with the whole "irrelevant" thing, but to each man his own.

I think it's really good, but nowhere near my Dream Theater standards. The only songs which really stands out for me are "The Looking Glass" and "Along for the Ride". The rest is absolutely good, but they don't make me wanna come back over and over again.

This album obviously needs some time, but still this is pretty standard DT stuff. I keep thinking of Images and Words on many songs, but False Awakening Suite really surprised me: I like that kind of epic music. Besides that intro, there is no song which I like in its entirety, but overall the album is heavily good.

For me, it's a completely uninspired album. Way too pop. Bigger Picture is probably their worst song ever.
Bad transitions throughout the album (Behing the Veil starts so well, but the rest of the song doesn't connect with the intro). Illumination Theory has its moments, but I feel it's just a sequence of riffs that dont' really make a whole. And let's face it, the song is 19minutes long, not 22. What comes a minute after it's finished is completely irrelevant.

I feel it's an album made by amateurs. Truly.

I totally agree with Hollberr,
This album is way too uninspired for such a band, i liked about 2 songs on the whole album (enigma and illumination theory) but the rest are really bad songs. If you compare this album to other prog stuff, you can see they aren't a force in progressive metal anymore. Don't get me wrong, I love DT, they are great musicians but their newests album aren't good at all. James Labrie's vocals are so boring, hell Rebecca Black sings better...
They should have named this album all filler no killers...

For me, it's a completely uninspired album. Way too pop. Bigger Picture is probably their worst song ever.
Bad transitions throughout the album (Behing the Veil starts so well, but the rest of the song doesn't connect with the intro). Illumination Theory has its moments, but I feel it's just a sequence of riffs that dont' really make a whole. And let's face it, the song is 19minutes long, not 22. What comes a minute after it's finished is completely irrelevant.

I feel it's an album made by amateurs. Truly.

I totally agree with Hollberr,
This album is way too uninspired for such a band, i liked about 2 songs on the whole album (enigma and illumination theory) but the rest are really bad songs. If you compare this album to other prog stuff, you can see they aren't a force in progressive metal anymore. Don't get me wrong, I love DT, they are great musicians but their newests album aren't good at all. James Labrie's vocals are so boring, hell Rebecca Black sings better...
They should have named this album all filler no killers...

No band singer can sound worse than Rebecca black! Thats Treason to suggest!

Give them a try if you haven't listened to them yet, it's worth it . You can't really compare Ayreon with DT. Except for the fact that they both are prog bands, they don't have anything similar, in my opinion. But in terms of quality, both are amazing bands. I still prefer DT though .

Whether or not you like the album is entirely your business, and that's fine with me. But what you said here is beyond ridiculous. You're either deaf or insane.

And you're either retarded or disrespectful.
I didn't say it WAS an album made by amateurs, I said I FELT like it was an album made by amateurs. There's so much bad stuff in this album, and so few hot spots in their songs, that to me it really doesn't seem like they're been doing this for 25 years. Or maybe the opposite. It's been 25 years and now they're not inspired anymore. I don't know. But one thing I do know is that I hate this album. And that it's fine with you.

This is truly a disappointment for me - most songs sound like they're meant for the radio, 4/4 time signatures overwhelm the most part of the album, solos just for the sake of soloing followed by overly cheesy choruses, rigid and predictable song structures.

2nd full listen and despite the shorter songs, DT keep it interesting. Bit disappointed by Magaini's Drum mix, but everything else sounds great, especially Pretrucci's Guitar work. James sounds better vocally this time, not going thorugh the motions like in the last couple of records. Illumination theory takes a bit of time, but could be their best song yet, the last section is probably their most emotive part of their songwriting career.

Sounds so much monotonous to me, pretty much better than their last record but i think DT lost it after systematic chaos, dont know maybe because that was the first album that i listened to from DT and had great moments listening to that....
i didnt enjoy anything from them like classic albums

2nd full listen and despite the shorter songs, DT keep it interesting. Bit disappointed by Magaini's Drum mix, but everything else sounds great, especially Pretrucci's Guitar work. James sounds better vocally this time, not going thorugh the motions like in the last couple of records. Illumination theory takes a bit of time, but could be their best song yet, the last section is probably their most emotive part of their songwriting career.

Have to say I agree with pretty much everything you say. Felt this album was perhaps a little too guitar-centric though. While I love the sound Petrucci gave the guitar, the mixing makes it feel like he's the focus the whole way through, which he shouldn't be. James LaBrie is finally back to taking risks with his vocals, and Myung is finally starting to stand out. While Mangini's drums sound a little too processed, his technique is flawless.
As for that final section, I think that's become one of my favourite DT moments of all time. Heck, it's definitely put Illumination Theory in my top 5 DT songs.

2nd full listen and despite the shorter songs, DT keep it interesting. Bit disappointed by Magaini's Drum mix, but everything else sounds great, especially Pretrucci's Guitar work. James sounds better vocally this time, not going thorugh the motions like in the last couple of records. Illumination theory takes a bit of time, but could be their best song yet, the last section is probably their most emotive part of their songwriting career.

Have to say I agree with pretty much everything you say. Felt this album was perhaps a little too guitar-centric though. While I love the sound Petrucci gave the guitar, the mixing makes it feel like he's the focus the whole way through, which he shouldn't be. James LaBrie is finally back to taking risks with his vocals, and Myung is finally starting to stand out. While Mangini's drums sound a little too processed, his technique is flawless.
As for that final section, I think that's become one of my favourite DT moments of all time. Heck, it's definitely put Illumination Theory in my top 5 DT songs.

Loved James section in IT in the third section where he bellows the high notes, was cool to witness again.

Hopefully they nail the drums/guitar sound in the next record, as long as the music is good again!

Loved James section in IT in the third section where he bellows the high notes, was cool to witness again.

Hopefully they nail the drums/guitar sound in the next record, as long as the music is good again!

Have to agree, one of favourite James LaBrie moments. Combine that with the drum/bass combo that leads into it, and beautiful orchestral break before that, and it was just one massive hype-builder waiting to happen!

Also, I hope that, for the next album, they realise that not every chorus needs to have that whole "epic" thing going on. Every chorus on the whole album had that same thing going on in the chorus. (with slight exceptions in The Enemy Inside & IT's first part) Just think Constant Motion, where it was still a chorus, but more raw.

For me, it's a completely uninspired album. Way too pop. Bigger Picture is probably their worst song ever.
Bad transitions throughout the album (Behing the Veil starts so well, but the rest of the song doesn't connect with the intro). Illumination Theory has its moments, but I feel it's just a sequence of riffs that dont' really make a whole. And let's face it, the song is 19minutes long, not 22. What comes a minute after it's finished is completely irrelevant.

I feel it's an album made by amateurs. Truly.

You're the only one here got the constructive point, yes the transitions bad to the core !
I don't argue with people here anymore as It's unnecessary. Listeners come from different standards of musical backgrounds, it's similar to telling your 3 years old son that Shakespeare's are better than Ben 10 series, simply waste of your time...

For me, it's a completely uninspired album. Way too pop. Bigger Picture is probably their worst song ever.
Bad transitions throughout the album (Behing the Veil starts so well, but the rest of the song doesn't connect with the intro). Illumination Theory has its moments, but I feel it's just a sequence of riffs that dont' really make a whole. And let's face it, the song is 19minutes long, not 22. What comes a minute after it's finished is completely irrelevant.

I feel it's an album made by amateurs. Truly.

You're the only one here got the constructive point, yes the transitions bad to the core !
I don't argue with people here anymore as It's unnecessary. Listeners come from different standards of musical backgrounds, it's similar to telling your 3 years old son that Shakespeare's are better than Ben 10 series, simply waste of your time...

That's quite a silly way to go looking at these kinds of things. Just because people come from different musical backgrounds, doesn't mean that people from a similar background can't like different things.
I personally enjoyed the album quite a bit, despite the obvious problem with transitions. Does this mean I'm a Ben 10 loving, "what's-popular-is-great" preaching, ignorant listener?
I will easily admit that the transitions were bad, however I don't even think that the transitions are that big of a deal. I wouldn't even mark this album down by half a point because of transition flaw.
There's no way of being objective when it comes to music.

To those who didn't enjoy this record: stop being so judgemental, if you're looking for perfection in metal you have picked the wrong place, Bach(baroque composer) was perfect, listen to his stuff, and stop bitching.